Traveling Muralist

Tag Archives: women

This Earth Day I rode my bicycle with the Biketopia Music Collective from Oakland to Bayview to help pedal the stage at the Bayview Opera House earth day celebration in San Francisco, CA. We pedaled the stage for musical acts with using just four bicycles and friends to pedal them. What a beautiful day!

The aim of this day-long mural was to involve as many elementary students in the creation of the piece. Allowing for freedom, exploration, and creativity to be free.

I was so lucky to paint a community mural with some of the schools of Bayview. It was incredible to paint on stage with the youth and create the piece with them. The music is by Heather Normandale and the band that I live painted with was Audio Pharmacy. It was a successful day and I am so thankful to of been apart of it! Check out the video now!

I have been in Colombia 76 days and thought I would start counting the days. I spoke with my Dad last night and I agree with him in that when you experience new things and places to go your idea of time is quite different than what you think of in normal life. No routine, always meeting new people and my life is always changing. I have never experienced anything like this.

I am feeling like I am finally getting to a point in my travels where I have enough experience to really start making strides and travelling in a cost effective and more intelligent way. For example cooking in hostels: people always say it’s cheaper. It isn’t! Unless, you really take time to figure out what you are going to buy, how you are going to use every single thing you purchase, and count out how many times and meals you will make to use everything in an efficient way. I think someone should make a cook book for hostels because I see a lot of people buying groceries like they are going back to their own personal home. You never use everything and sometimes you have to travel with food to make it worthwhile to eat that way. Sometimes it’s cheaper to go to the corner restaurant and purchase a pizza or menu of the day that is less than 3 dollars.

Antoher thing I have learned with time: don’t always listen to hostels advice on travelling, don’t always believe what other travelers say about a place, and if you really want to learn about a city or place you just have to go there yourself and experience it. Also there is always, always, always a cheaper way to travel than what you guide book says. I also have learned to not go on the same route that a lot of travel companies, busses and guide books tell you are a better way to go. Very interesting travelling can be cheap, easy, and way more fun if you don’t follow the normal route.

I have been thankful enough to stay for free and eat for free. In return, I cannot stand paying for thigns that I think are too overpriced, even if they may not be in terms of Untied States mentality, my mind is officially in the Colombian way of thinking. For example, I went to Playa Blanca yesterday, arguably the most popular tourist destination in Colombia. Everything was overpriced! However, I knew this and spoke with certain vendors and explain to them that I have been travelling as an artist, don’t have enough money, appreciate their service, and negotiate with them a fair price. Even if it’s the difference of 8 mil a night for a hammock (4 USD) and getting them to give it to me for 4 mil (2 USD) a night, it really does make a difference if I am going to be travelling for a year!

I keep thinking that I need to leave Colombia, like I need to get out because people just don’t stay in one place this long! Yet I constantly need to remind myself that I am travelling intelligently, that not everyone paints, and that the slow route is in fact better to get to know a culture. My hopes for the rest of my travels is that I may get to do a mural with someone, that I will meet a friend I can travel with for longer than 4 days and that I meet a community that is more like minded as I am of artists and down to earth people. All sorts of people travel and all sorts of people exist in this world. I am determined to find one that is more like what I am striving to become in my life. I know it exists, and I have a lot of time to find it. However now I feel ready and open!

The first day that I got to Palomino I saw a man, or I should say boy, that was holding a dead alligator that he picked up from the river. This boy was posing for the camera and quite a site to see. He was proud of the alligator and claimed that it was dead when he found it. I think otherwise.

I was able to explore the Sierra Nevada’s a little bit as well. I went to Valencia which was a beautiful hike with waterfalls everywhere. We swam in them, super cold and clear and tons of fish swimming all around you! They would swim close but never touch you. The water smelled clean and of fish, so pure and beautiful. I went with a local friend I made that took me on his moto taxi.

Fortunately, but unfortunate for me, the Sierra Nevada are very protected by Colombia in order to preserve the indigenous tribes villages. So if you want to enter the Forest you have to go with a guide that can be quite expensive and take a long time to be able to process.

There is also a famous ¨Lost City Trek¨ which is comparable to Machu Picchu in Peru, but in Colombia. It was a little over my price range and I wanted to do a long trek in Peru so I skipped it. But the Sierras are considered to be sacred for the indigenous so they are keeping the large Nevada’s away from tourists and people not from the area, which I think is amazing. I did get to have some coca with the indigenous and was able to speak to some of them as most have their own language.

Throughout my travels it has always beyond amazed me at how willing the people of Colombia are to share. Even if the people here do not have enough for themselves, they will always always share with you. Something else I am learning about the culture: If someone asks you if you want to share something with them or they want to give something to you (food, jewelry, anything) take it! It is considered rude to turn away people. They ask you if you want something, because they want to give it to you. I love it! I remember being on the back of a truck in the blazing sun in Venezuela and there was a group of us needing water. The only person to have water let each of us have a sip instead of having it all to himself. I love this concept and feel like I do not even do that with my close friends in the States. Its growing on me!

Recently I found a beautiful town close to the coast in the mountains called Minca. The town is nestled in the Sierra Nevada and is the highest tropical mountain in the world. It was a spectrum of environmental conditions creating animals (especially birds) that are edemic to the región. Papa, Bob Aigner would love to see this! Toucans, 15 species of humming birds, monkeys, colorful butterflies and tons of mosquitos!

You cannot walk through the jungle without hearing beautiful songs from birds and wildlife. Its amazing. Not to metion endless waterfalls and beautiful hiking. I found a finka (farm) which is run like a co-op and is like a big family. Great place to practice my Spanish as well.

I’ve struck gold and came up with the best idea in the world. I have decided that I am going to paint my way through South America. As an artist and creator I was weary about traveling for a year trying to find places or things to paint. I knew it wouldn’t be easy as it would probably be costly and quite heavy to carry around supplies and attempt to sell work. What I didn’t realize was that there are other ways!

I guess that’s what traveling has done for me. You become more creative, more thrifty, and have to think and feel outside your normal comfort zone.

So I’ve booked two gigs. I email hostels and attach my website and give them a reason to take me in while I paint their hostel. It’s just one mural. The deal is usually a bed and meals for free on return for my service. Amazing? I couldn’t think of anything better.

So my travel plans had changed. I may be traveling longer than anticipated and on a completely different way than the average traveler. I think it’s beautiful and its actually the reason why I do not like to plan my whole year out and have these expectations of what it’s going to be like!